Fifty percent of U.S. consumers prefer direct mail to email, according to a study released by marketing services firm Epsilon on Dec. 1. The study also found that one-quarter of all U.S. consumers said they found direct mail to be "more trustworthy" than email.

Marketers increased their average email volume by 39% in the first quarter, compared with the prior year, according to a study from email marketing company Epsilon and the Direct Marketing Association's Email Experience Council (EEC). The organizations based the study on 7.1 billion emails sent by about 140 North American Epsilon clients.

Email marketing vendor Epsilon said late last week that it detected a security breach March 30 that compromised the names and email information of several clients' customer databases. Impacted companies include JPMorgan Chase & Co., Walgreens, Best Buy, Ameriprise Financial and TiVo, according to media reports. Epsilon said April 6 that the breach affected about 2% of its total client base, and that no personal identifiable information, such as Social Security numbers, credit card numbers or account information, was accessed.

A new CRM system has improved Sears Holdings' campaign execution from two and a half months to three and a half days, Tony Arnold, director of CRM at the company, told an audience at the DMA: 2010 Conference & Exhibition.

Sign up to our newsletters

Latest Jobs:

Company of the Week

As the leading source for direct marketing youth data, ASL Marketing connects your brand to consumers with extensive and unparalleled industry expertise in data content, aggregation and analytics of the youth, young adult and student demographics. We provide access to the most comprehensive, response driven youth database available - over 175 million active high school, college and young adult consumers and their parents. We offer custom solutions devised to meet your specific target and goal. Our data customization allows you to pinpoint your audience by selecting by age, ethnicity, grad year, etc... Our clients range across all industries including Financial Services, Technology, Health & Beauty, Retail, Educational Services, Recruitment, and more.